This invention relates to apparatus for mounting a pneumatic hammer to equipment and more particularly to a mounting arrangement for mounting a hand-held type hammer for breaking apart surface materials such as ceramic tiles and marble from a supporting surface.
It is known in the art relating to the removal of hard floor surfaces such as tile and marble from a supporting surface to use a hand-held pneumatic hammer. The process of removal is arduous for the hammer operator. Therefore, mounting apparatus have been developed and implemented to attach such hand-held type hammers to equipment such as a backhoe, skid loader, or other machinery. Using these conventional attachment devices, the hammer is rigidly held in place on the attachment. Such arrangements do not allow for the dissipation of unwanted vibrations of the hammer nor do they allow the hammer body to have longitudinal freedom. This can subsequently lead to damage of the supporting surface, usually cement. This is undesirable because it then requires that the surface structure be repaired or replaced before a new floor can be laid.
The present invention provides for the mounting of a pneumatic hammer to an apparatus that allows the hammer body to move freely in an up and down, longitudinal direction within a fixed range. In this way, during operation, the hammer can slide in a direction parallel to its line of impact, thus reducing the force of impact for a more controlled breaking of the surface. The invention thus allows the operator to break apart surface material while leaving the underlying supporting surface unaltered.
More specifically, a mounting apparatus in accordance with the invention includes a main frame and a slide assembly connected to the main frame. The slide assembly includes a fixed portion and a slide portion. A tool mounting clamp is connected to the slide portion of the slide assembly and allows for a tool to be attached to the slide assembly. Tool handle mounts, connected to the main frame, allow for attachment of the tool handles to the main frame to further support the tool on the mounting apparatus. The slide portion of the slide assembly can travel up and down along the vertical axis of the main frame within a range restricted by upper and lower stops of the fixed portion of the slide assembly.
A mounting flange, connected to the main frame, allows the entire mounting apparatus to be adaptably connected to a piece of machinery such as a loader. The mounting flange can be attached to a skid loader mount which allows the mounting apparatus to be connected to the front end of a skid loader.
In one embodiment of the invention, a hammer mounting apparatus includes a main frame having a front face and a rear face. A slide assembly is connected to the front face of the main frame. The slide assembly includes two elongated guides, each of which are bordered on its upper and lower end by a stop. The slide assembly further includes two elongated followers which are shorter in length than the guides. The slide assembly also includes a slide, the slide being connected to the followers and the guides being positioned inside the followers.
The construction of the slide assembly allows the slide to move freely along the longitudinal axis of the main frame within the bounds of the stops. A tool mounting clamp is connected to a face of the slide of the slide assembly. A tool can be fastened to the slide via the tool mounting clamp. Further, two tool handle mounts are connected to the top of the main frame, one on each side, to mount the handles of a tool to the frame. A mounting flange is connected to the bottom end of the rear face of the main frame and allows for the attachment of the entire apparatus to any sufficient piece of machinery.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the accompanying drawings.